Noida, October 31
Team India's fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar hailed the Women in Blue after their thrilling victory over Australia in the semifinal, calling it a "huge achievement" and a testament to their quality as they stormed into the Women's World Cup final.
India's women's cricket team has stormed into the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 final, defeating the defending champions, Australia, by five wickets in a thrilling semifinal match.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur were the stars of the match, forming a crucial partnership that helped India chase down a massive target of 339 runs, the highest-ever run chase in women's ODI cricket.
Hosts successfully chased down 338/10 from Australia, with nine balls to spare, setting a new record for the highest successful run chase in Women's World Cup history.
Sharing his thoughts on India's performance, Bhuvneshwar Kumar told ANI, "It was a big match. Team Australia plays well and has won several World Cups; they (India) beat it. Everyone knew that India was a good team, but beating Australia is a huge achievement."
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta also congratulated the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side for reaching the final of the mega event. "It was fantastic. Congratulations to them! They will definitely perform well in the final too and win," Rekha Gupta said while speaking to the media.
Recapping the encounter between the two sides, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first.
After skipper Alyssa Healy's early loss, Phoebe Litchfield (119 in 93 balls, with 17 fours and three sixes) and Ellyse Perry (77 in 88 balls, with six fours and two sixes) put up a 155-run stand for the second wicket.
With the wicket of Litchfield, India made a comeback, reducing Australia to 265/6. However, a 66-run stand between Ash Gardner (63 in 45 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) and Kim Garth (17) took the Aussies to 338 runs in 49.5 overs.
Shree Charani (2/49) and Deepti Sharma (2/73) were among the top bowlers for India. Amanjot Kaur, Kranti Goud and Radha Yadav took a wicket each.
During the run-chase, India was 59/2 in the 10th over, losing openers Shafali Verma (10) and Smriti Mandhana (24 in 24 balls, with two fours and a six). However, Jemimah and Harmanpreet did not let the pressure pile on India.
Richa Ghosh (26 in 16 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Amanjot (15* in eight balls, with two fours) played important cameos, supporting Jemimah as the run chase was completed with five wickets and nine balls in hand. Jemimah earned the 'Player of the Match' award.
With this win, India have booked their spot in the Women's CWC final and are set to lock horns with South Africa on Sunday.
- ANI
Reader Comments
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.